The Duchess of Sussex is being supported by friends outside the UK as she comes to terms with devastating allegations made against her father Thomas Markle Snr, HELLO! can reveal.
She and Prince Harry have taken Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet overseas for a short break and are understood to be spending time with close friends. Meghan's circle are also calling her daily to check in.
"She's just really, really upset," a friend tells HELLO!. "She keeps on looking at Lili and she's in tears, and thinking about all the children, the alleged victims. She has young children herself. It's just devastating."
"She decided a while ago, before this happened, that she was going to take herself away from the media and not look at anything, for her own mental health.
"But obviously, she's been getting sent a lot of messages from friends in the UK and people all over saying how sorry they are, but it's just been an emotional rollercoaster for her. She's in bits."
© InstagramThomas Markle Snr is under investigation following the alleged discovery of child sex images that his son, Thomas Jr, claims he found at his father's home in the Philippines.
He has strongly denied any wrongdoing.
Meghan first became aware of serious allegations against her father in 2018, when the Metropolitan Police passed her a letter written by his first wife, Roslyn Loveless, in which she made what Meghan has since described as "disturbing" claims.
© Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty ImagesShe had only met Roslyn, mother of her stepsister Samantha Markle and stepbrother Thomas Jr, once or twice, HELLO! understands.
It is understood that Meghan was advised at the time not to go public with the allegations.
But she decided then to sever all ties with her father, a retired Hollywood lighting director.
© NetflixAfter he continued to complain about their estrangement in media interviews, she wrote to him a final time in December last year, to explain why she had cut contact.
"There is some relief that it is finally out there," adds the friend.
In a statement last week, Meghan said: "I hope it can now be understood that, despite certain media publications' distortion over the years, any distance from my father and my choice to not allow him to have contact with our children, was for one reason: to protect them.
"I trusted that the authorities were doing the same for other families.
"Although the breadth of what has now been uncovered is more sickening than one could ever imagine, my sincerest hope is that justice will be fully served and that the priority remains the safety and protection of innocent children."
